Is Lionsgate+ the same as Starz?

No, and this confusion goes right back to Lionsgate+'s STARZPLAY days. Starz is a separate, US-focused service with its own app and its own Prime Video Channel listing. Lionsgate+ carries some of the same original series that Starz airs in the US, like Power and Outlander, but the two remain different products with different regional availability. Our Starz VPN guide covers the US service specifically.

What happened to the standalone Lionsgate+ app?

It's gone in most markets. The UK version shut down at the end of February 2024, and the service had already pulled out of most of continental Europe, Japan, and Latin America as a standalone product before that. Lionsgate+ now operates mainly as an add-on channel inside Amazon Prime Video rather than its own app with its own website, which is why searching for a dedicated Lionsgate+ site or app today often turns up very little.

Is Lionsgate+ available in the US?

Yes, currently, as a Prime Video Channel, which is a genuine change from the STARZPLAY era when the US was covered separately by Starz and Lionsgate+ (as a brand) wasn't sold there at all. Availability through Prime Video Channels can shift, so it's worth confirming it's still listed before you build a whole VPN setup around it.

Which VPN server should I connect to for Lionsgate+?

Connect to a server in a country where the Lionsgate+ channel is currently offered on Prime Video, ideally matching wherever your Amazon account and payment details are set up, since Prime Video checks account region as well as your apparent location. Connecting to a country where the channel isn't listed at all will usually mean it simply doesn't show up in your search results.

Does Lionsgate+ ban accounts for using a VPN?

There's no widely reported pattern of Amazon suspending Prime Video accounts specifically for VPN use with Lionsgate+ or any other channel. The typical outcome of detection is a blocked stream or a missing search result, not action against your account. Switching to a working server usually resolves it.

Is it legal to use a VPN to watch Lionsgate+ from another country?

Using a VPN is legal in the UK, across the EU, and in most of the world. Doing so to access a different country's Lionsgate+ line-up goes against Prime Video's terms, but enforcement is handled through technical blocking rather than legal or account action against individual users.

Streaming

Lionsgate+ VPN Not Working? Here's How to Fix It on Prime Video

Lionsgate+ now streams almost entirely through Amazon Prime Video Channels rather than its own app, so fixing a VPN block here really means fixing Prime Video's location checks

Thomas RichardEditor

Published 1 August 2026 · 11 min read

Fix your Lionsgate+ VPN in minutes

Know this first: Lionsgate+ is now a Prime Video Channel in most markets, not its own app, so it's Prime Video's location check you're actually fixing
Connect your VPN to a supported country before opening Prime Video, then switch to a different server if you hit a location error
Confirm your VPN is showing the right country with our IP checker before troubleshooting further
Open Prime Video in a private window straight after connecting if it's still showing your real location

If your VPN still isn't working, you need a better alternative that actually hides your location.

See our recommended VPNs

Lionsgate+ has changed more in the last few years than most streaming services do in a decade, and that's worth knowing before you start troubleshooting, because a lot of advice about it online is out of date.

It started as STARZPLAY, got rebranded, then pulled its standalone app from most of the countries it launched in. Today it runs mainly as a Prime Video Channel rather than its own app, so in most places you're actually troubleshooting Prime Video's location checks, not a separate Lionsgate+ site.

What Lionsgate+ actually is today

Lionsgate+ is now a Prime Video Channel add-on, not its own app, priced around $6.99 a month with a seven-day free trial (check Amazon for the current figure). It's offered in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and a growing list of European and Latin American markets, though availability shifts, so search for it inside Prime Video to confirm.

It rebranded from STARZPLAY in 2022, then pulled its standalone app from most of Europe and Latin America, shutting the UK app entirely in February 2024 (Outlander and Power moved to MGM+ there). It's also a different product from Starz, which stays US-only with its own app: use our Starz VPN guide for that one instead.

Fix 1: Get the basics right on Prime Video

Because Lionsgate+ now runs through Prime Video in most markets, the geo-detection you're fighting is Prime Video's, and our full Prime Video VPN guide covers that system in more depth than we can repeat here.

The short version: connect your VPN to a server in a country where Lionsgate+ is currently offered before you open Prime Video, not after, since opening the app first can lock in your real location for that session.

If you're already logged in and it's still showing your normal region, close Prime Video completely, reconnect the VPN, and reopen it fresh.

Fix 2: Switch to a different server

Amazon maintains and updates a list of known VPN and data-centre IP addresses across all of Prime Video, Lionsgate+ included, so a server that worked last month can get flagged and stop working with no warning.

If you're seeing a location error, or a Lionsgate+ search inside Prime Video comes up empty, switch to a different server in the same country and try again. Test two or three servers before concluding the whole thing is blocked.

In NordVPN, search for your target country and try a different numbered server, ideally one flagged for streaming if your app shows that option. In ExpressVPN, use Choose Location, pick your country, and try a different city. Both refresh their IP ranges often, which is a large part of why they tend to hold up better against Amazon's detection than smaller providers with static server lists.

Fix 3: Clear cookies and use a private window

If you've used Prime Video before without a VPN, or your connection dropped and reconnected mid-session, your browser may be holding onto location data from that earlier visit. Open a private or incognito window straight after connecting your VPN. If that alone doesn't clear it, follow our full cookie-clearing guide, or use the quick steps below.

Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data, set the time range to All time, tick Cookies and other site data.
Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Clear Data, tick Cookies.
Safari: Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data > Remove All.
Edge: Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Clear browsing data, set the time range to All time.

Reconnect your VPN and open Prime Video fresh once you've cleared everything.

Fix 4: Rule out a DNS leak

Prime Video checks DNS requests as well as your IP address, which is exactly why an IP checker that looks fine doesn't always mean you're fully covered. A DNS leak happens when some of your device's lookup requests slip outside the VPN tunnel and go straight to your regular internet provider, revealing your real country even while your IP address looks correct.

Run our IP and DNS checker and specifically check whether the DNS server location matches your VPN's country. If it doesn't, switch on DNS leak protection in your VPN app's settings, usually a single toggle. Our full DNS leak guide covers the fix for every major provider.

Watching on a smart TV, Fire Stick, or games console

Since Lionsgate+ lives inside Prime Video now rather than as its own app, getting it working on a TV is really a question of getting Prime Video working on that TV, which our Prime Video guide covers device by device, including Fire TV Stick, Samsung and LG smart TVs, Roku, and games consoles.

Our dedicated Fire Stick VPN guide and Roku VPN guide go into more depth on those two specifically, including router-level and Smart DNS options for TVs that can't run a VPN app directly.

Split tunneling

If you only want your Prime Video traffic (Lionsgate+ included) going through the VPN, split tunneling is worth setting up. In NordVPN (Windows/Android): Settings > Split Tunneling, then add the Prime Video app to the VPN-only list. In ExpressVPN: Preferences > General > Split tunneling, then select Prime Video.

Split tunneling isn't available on iOS for most providers, so on iPhone you'll need to run the full VPN connection instead.

Free VPNs and Lionsgate+

Free VPNs are generally a poor fit here. Their small, shared server pools get flagged by Amazon's detection quickly, and even where a server slips through, speed and reliability tend to be too inconsistent for smooth streaming.

There's also a wider trust question with free providers, since a lot of them cover their running costs by logging or selling browsing data rather than charging for the app, covered fully in Are Free VPNs Safe?. A paid VPN with a large, actively maintained server network is the far more reliable choice if you're relying on Lionsgate+ regularly.

What's on Lionsgate+

The library still centres on the original drama series that built the STARZPLAY and Lionsgate+ name in the first place, most notably the Power franchise (Power, Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and its spin-offs) and Outlander, alongside a large catalogue of Lionsgate theatrical films spanning new releases and back catalogue titles.

Worth flagging again: in the UK specifically, some of that flagship content, Outlander and Power among them, moved to Amazon's separate MGM+ channel when the standalone Lionsgate+ app shut down there in 2024, so don't assume everything historically associated with the Lionsgate+ brand is necessarily still sitting inside the Lionsgate+ channel in every market. Exact catalogues vary by country regardless, since content licensing is negotiated market by market.

Is it against the terms of service to use a VPN with Lionsgate+?

Like most streaming content, Lionsgate+'s terms (and Prime Video's more broadly) expect you to access content available in your registered region, so using a VPN to reach a different country's channel line-up sits outside what's technically permitted.

In practice, enforcement is handled through detecting and blocking VPN traffic rather than through account penalties, and there's no widespread pattern of Prime Video accounts being suspended purely for VPN use. Using a VPN itself is legal in the UK, across the EU, and in most other countries.

Frequently asked questions

: No, and this confusion goes right back to Lionsgate+'s STARZPLAY days. Starz is a separate, US-focused service with its own app and its own Prime Video Channel listing. Lionsgate+ carries some of the same original series that Starz airs in the US, like Power and Outlander, but the two remain different products with different regional availability. Our Starz VPN guide covers the US service specifically.
: It's gone in most markets. The UK version shut down at the end of February 2024, and the service had already pulled out of most of continental Europe, Japan, and Latin America as a standalone product before that. Lionsgate+ now operates mainly as an add-on channel inside Amazon Prime Video rather than its own app with its own website, which is why searching for a dedicated Lionsgate+ site or app today often turns up very little.
: Yes, currently, as a Prime Video Channel, which is a genuine change from the STARZPLAY era when the US was covered separately by Starz and Lionsgate+ (as a brand) wasn't sold there at all. Availability through Prime Video Channels can shift, so it's worth confirming it's still listed before you build a whole VPN setup around it.
: Connect to a server in a country where the Lionsgate+ channel is currently offered on Prime Video, ideally matching wherever your Amazon account and payment details are set up, since Prime Video checks account region as well as your apparent location. Connecting to a country where the channel isn't listed at all will usually mean it simply doesn't show up in your search results.
: There's no widely reported pattern of Amazon suspending Prime Video accounts specifically for VPN use with Lionsgate+ or any other channel. The typical outcome of detection is a blocked stream or a missing search result, not action against your account. Switching to a working server usually resolves it.
: Using a VPN is legal in the UK, across the EU, and in most of the world. Doing so to access a different country's Lionsgate+ line-up goes against Prime Video's terms, but enforcement is handled through technical blocking rather than legal or account action against individual users.

Our recommendations

The Best VPNs for Lionsgate+

If the fixes above didn’t work, the problem is usually the VPN itself. Not all providers are equal at unblocking streaming services. These are the ones we recommend based on our own testing.

The “Try” buttons for NordVPN, ExpressVPN and PureVPN are affiliate links: we earn a commission if you subscribe, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.

NordVPNStarting from £2.29/mo

The most consistent VPN we've tested across BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Disney+, and the harder UK services. Reliable, fast, and works on up to ten devices at once.

Try NordVPN Read our review

ExpressVPNStarting from £1.99/mo

The fastest VPN in our tests by a consistent margin, and competitively priced. A strong choice if speed, picture quality, or smart TV streaming matters to you.

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PureVPNStarting from $2.15/mo

The most affordable of our three picks. Still unblocks all the major streaming services, and the price makes it a sensible starting point if you're new to VPNs.

Try PureVPN Read our review

New to VPNs? Find out if you actually need one.

VPN use is legal in the UK and most countries. Accessing streaming services from outside their licensed territory may fall outside their terms of service; check the terms of any service before use.